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[Saba Sports News] Anthony Davis quickly found himself on the receiving end of criticism barely 36 hours later. The Los Angeles Lakers forward was sidelined for Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy and left hip soreness, seemingly as a precaution since the Lakers had just played the night before (suffering a loss to the Houston Rockets).
When asked about participating in the upcoming high-profile game against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, Davis was unequivocally positive, stating, “Oh, hell yeah,” according to Brad Turner from the Los Angeles Times.
However, this assurance proved misleading. Roughly five hours before the game started on Thursday, the Lakers announced that both Davis and his teammate LeBron James would miss the match against the Celtics. Given that this was their third game in four days, facing off against the top-performing Celtics in Boston was always going to be a challenge, especially without risking their key players early in February.
Despite this, Davis, who has been notably more resilient this season—appearing in 46 of the Lakers’ 49 games and averaging 35.9 minutes on the court—was particularly vocal about playing against Boston but was ruled out before the game could even start. This setback is just one of several issues facing the Lakers, who are currently navigating a challenging season.